According to federal estimates, the German wine harvest is expected to be almost 5% lower this year.
Wine growers in Germany expect a 4.9% drop in wine must this year compared to 2023, according to Destatis, the country’s federal statistics office.
German winemakers are expected to harvest 8.26 million hectoliters of must, compared to just under 8.7 million hectoliters last year.
The six-year average between 2018 and 2023 was 8.91 million hl, meaning the 2024 harvest is expected to be 7.3% lower.
Destatis said a rainy spring in Germany has promoted fungal diseases, including downy mildew, in some parts of the country. Germany has also suffered from late frost, hail, storms and heavy rain this year.
According to agency estimates dated September 20, just under 60% of the expected harvest will come from Germany’s largest wine-growing regions, Rheinhessen and Palatinate.
Rheinhessen is expected to see a 7.1% increase in harvest volume, but elsewhere several regions will see yields fall, including in the Moselle, which is expected to see a 30.7% drop.
About 68.4% of the harvest will be white must. Destatis predicts a 3.1% decline in Riesling harvest volume.
In 2023, Germany exported just under 1.2 million hectoliters of wine, 2% lower than a year earlier. However, the value of the country’s wine exports increased by 4% to €384 million.
Germany more wine exported year on year in the first quarter of 2024, despite continued pressure in the US, its largest market.
According to industry body Deutsches Weininstitut, volumes rose 9% in the first three months of the year, with Germany shipping 283,000 hectoliters of wine.
The value of export sales also grew by 9%, reaching €92 million ($98.3 million).
“Spring rain expected to hit German wine harvest” was originally created and published by Just drinksa brand owned by GlobalData.
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